


You Miss All The Shots You Never Take

by orphan_account



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-14
Updated: 2019-03-14
Packaged: 2019-11-17 21:55:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18107240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: My slightly cracky Qrow/Maria ficlet, set right after the leviathan fight in Season 6 Episode 13.





	You Miss All The Shots You Never Take

**Author's Note:**

> So far as I can tell I am the first person to write Qrow/Maria, so I'm laying rights to the ship name. I hereby dub this ship the Grimm Omen.

"We should have just enough fuel to make it," the Maria told Ruby.

"Thanks Miss Calavera," Ruby replied warmly.

Qrow grinned. That was his niece alright. Just took on a Grimm the size of a skyscraper and she's thanking others for what they've done. She turned away, leaving the cockpit to be with her friends, but Qrow caught his niece before she could leave. "Hey Ruby." 

She turned around, turning that warm smile which came so naturally to her towards him. "Hm?"

"You did great out there today kid."  _I'm sorry for not trusting you._ "Just don't go giving me heart attacks like that again."  _I just need you to be safe. Even if it's not fair_. 

He turned away from Ruby and raised his flask. Gods she really had almost gotten herself killed today. What would he tell Tai if Ruby died? 

He paused with his flask at his lips. She hadn't died though. She'd made the right choice. Something he hadn't been doing much lately. Ruby had fought the Grimm and saved all those people and gotten them a way to Atlas he- Qrow looked down at his flask. Yesterday he'd gotten drunk and yelled at her and called her an idiot. He lowered the flask. He-

And then his niece was hugging him, arms wrapped around him from behind and cheek pressed up against his. "I love you too," she said.

 _Oh._ Gods, what was it about this niece of his that made him actually feel worth a damn? Qrow smiled at his niece as she finally did leave to be with her friends.  _She's like her mother in that way. Makes everybody feel like they have the power to be better people._

Qrow looked out through the ship's windshield and smiled. Today really had been a good day, hadn't it?

Then Maria Calavera, the Grimm fucking Reaper, told him, "You weren't half bad yourself today Qrow." 

Qrow's jaw dropped a centimeter, looking at his idol and listening to her compliment him. But then he remembered, "They did all the heavy lifting."

"But," the older woman said, "you were there to help when they asked for it. And you were there to catch them when they fell. Literally, if I recall."

"Thanks." Against his will, Qrow found himself smiling. After the last few days he knew there wasn't a chance in hell of the Grimm Reaper giving a compliment she didn't mean, and her praise hit him right in the chest. 

Riding the glowing feeling in his chest, Qrow turned towards her. "You know, it was pretty incredible getting to see the Grimm Reaper in action." And gods had it been incredible. The ex-Huntress had danced circles a heavy combat mech with a troop transport! With anyone else that would have made for a legend in of itself, but with her it barely even warranted a mention next to the stories he'd heard while training at Beacon.

"Hah! You should have seen me when I was your age." 

"I don't know about that, you're a pretty amazing sight at this age." 

"Eh?" Mechanical blue eyes turned to look at Qrow quizzically.

Internally he mirrored her surprise.  _What the heck was that?! Why did I say that?!_ But looking at her ... it was true. He'd meant it. Maria had a fire in her. The kind that said 'fuck the world and fuck you too, I do things my way'. It shone out of every pore in her face, the laugh lines etched around her eyes and the pinch in her lips that said she knew she could take you. She wasn't the person he'd thought the Grimm Reaper would be, she was better. 

"Hah!" she laughed again. "It sounds like something else when you say it like that."

For a moment Qrow wanted to laugh with her, to play it off. And maybe yesterday he would have. Maybe a minute ago he would have. But-  _When's the last time I told myself 'why not?'_

"Maria," Qrow said, "there are some things that don't dim with age. And the spark in you is one of them."  _Thank you_ _Tai's romance novels._

The older woman turned to face him fully, looking him up and down. Her gaze settled on his face and one mechanical eye widened questioningly. "You really mean that?" 

 _In for a penny, in for a pound._ "Yeah. I do."

A grin crept over the Grimm Reaper's face, an expression Qrow was sure had been the last thing more than one person had seen. "Qrow. Are you flirting with me?"

"Yes ma'am, I believe I am." For a moment Qrow was young again, as careless and reckless as he'd been with STRQ. "What do you plan to do about it?" 

"Hah! I like you!" Maria flicked a switch and pushed herself away from the control panel. "Oscar!" she yelled out. 

_Wait what?_

"Yes Miss Calavera?"

"Take control. The plane's in autopilot, you should be fine, just call me if anything happens. I'm going to be in the cargo hold making out with Qrow." 

Absolute silence greeted this proclamation, broken only by a strangled "wHaT" from Ruby.

 _Oh. Damn. Well, I can work with this._  

Qrow got out of his seat, eagerly following Maria to the back of the ship. He grabbed a stunned Oscar and pushed him towards the cockpit, then bumped a proffered fist from Yang. 

"You know she's going to eat you alive, right Uncle Qrow?" his older niece whispered as he passed. 

Qrow huffed out a laugh.  _I'm counting on it_. 

Then they were in the cargo hold, the only light coming from the Grimm Reaper's glowing eyes. She smiled. "Alright big guy. Shirt off." 

Qrow smiled back. "Yes ma'am." 

**Author's Note:**

> I apologize for nothing.


End file.
